Rescues

I adopted a Leghorn (rescue) from a hatchery. Leghorn's are not my favorite, but when I heard a local agency had rescued several, I just had to go and help out.

Geeez, I'd never seen a chicken up close from a hatchery. How awful. She is thin, her beak has been cut and she is just a sad, adorable little bird. I loved her on sight.

The good news is that she was fully checked out from a vet, vaccinated and dusted for mites, etc. That was reassuring.

She is the seventh to my flock. I normally bring in two new chickens at a time, but this was the only one not taken--for some reason. Last one. I couldn't leave her. So far she is faring fine. The others were curious, let her know they were in charge and none have been aggressive to her. She is skittish, but that's to be expected her first day.

As soon as I put her in the chicken yard, she dirt-bathed for 20 minutes. Then she ran around looking things over and flapping her wings.

My chickens have a very good life in the burbs here. I have a large 90 square yard and lots of trees and two coops, so they all have lots of room to run and play.

I feel good about adopting her.

Question: anyone else out there have experience with adopting hatchery chickens?

What a neat story and how lucky she is to end her life in far better circumstances than she has lived it until now. We don't have any commercial egg producers around here so I've never had the opportunity to see a hatchery hen up close either.

Give her some intact grains like corn, black oil sunflower seed and millet in addition for the "solent green" currently being applied. Also make so she can get some fresh greens such as germinated oats. To get her into a more interactive mood, consider giving her mealworms on occasion. Doing such will help with molt and get her skin back into good color.

Where do I get "germinated oats?" I do give the girls spinach, which they love, certain fruits they like, such as apple, and stuff in season such as watermelon. I already give them black oil sunflower seeds. I also have some scratch which includes corn mixed in the the laying crumble.

At first she didn't seem to like sunflower seeds, etc , but she now seems to try it and like. It is taking time. At first she spent most of her time hiding under the several bushes around the yard. Today I saw her up on the branches of one of the Oleanders. She seemed very happy bouncing around. I can tell she has gained weight. Her feathers are cleaner and she seems more comfortable with the rest of the flock. A little bolder, I would say.

When I'm out in the yard, I let them come out with me to the lawn, on what I call "field trips." they get to run around in the grass and explore the entire property. I stay outside to be sure they don't wander off the reservation to the neighbors. Funky came running out with the rest and explored like the others. Good sign. She was not intimidated.

Where do I get "germinated oats?" I do give the girls spinach, which they love, certain fruits they like, such as apple, and stuff in season such as watermelon. I already give them black oil sunflower seeds. I also have some scratch which includes corn mixed in the the laying crumble.

At first she didn't seem to like sunflower seeds, etc , but she now seems to try it and like. It is taking time. At first she spent most of her time hiding under the several bushes around the yard. Today I saw her up on the branches of one of the Oleanders. She seemed very happy bouncing around. I can tell she has gained weight. Her feathers are cleaner and she seems more comfortable with the rest of the flock. A little bolder, I would say.

When I'm out in the yard, I let them come out with me to the lawn, on what I call "field trips." they get to run around in the grass and explore the entire property. I stay outside to be sure they don't wander off the reservation to the neighbors. Funky came running out with the rest and explored like the others. Good sign. She was not intimidated.

So far, so good.

Thanks again for the good advice.

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Germinated oats are what you can transform oats into by setting them on a wet paper towel in a dark location so they can sprout. The whole corn is fed as intact seeds, not as a ground component of a scratch mixture. Simply soaking oats for a couple days can also provide a more diverse diet.

Want to take good care of this little girl. She deserves it. Don't care if she ever lays an egg. Didn't adopt for that reason, anyway.

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Physiologically she may have no choice but to lay eggs. If she resumes which I think is likely, make certain she has adequate calcium and phosphate intake which can be enabled by free-choice access to oyster shell. She is bred to lay more than what a typical non-supplemented diet can support.

Thank you and yes, I have learned that calcium it is extremely important to their health. I always have a bowl of fresh oyster shell available year around. I know how important calcium is to chickens.

Thanks again. All advice and reminders are very welcome.

Geri

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I did not mean it as a reminder. Not all chickens, even among hens have a requirement for such additional calcium. Under normal conditions a hen lays only a dozen or so eggs before setting. The calcium needed for making such eggs come directly from an non-supplemented diet plus the medullary bone. By time a clutch is set, the medullary reserves are exhausted. Your bird is bred to lay more than what medullary reserves will support without a diet very high in calcium relative to what a wild bird uses..